Beauty Within the Beast
by neutralise
Summary: Momo Hinamori had always been able to discern fairy tales from reality, before becoming caught up with a cursed being. The line between the two is blurred and she realizes that maybe not all fairy tales are fictitious. -AU, eventual HitsuHina-


**Title**: Beauty Within the Beast  
**Author**: Grey Saturdays  
**Series**: Bleach  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Genre**: Fantasy  
**Summary**: Momo Hinamori had always been able to discern fairy tales from reality, before becoming caught up with a cursed being. The line between the two is blurred and she realizes that maybe not all fairy tales are fictitious. (Eventual HitsuHina.)  
**Disclaimer**: It still applies—_Bleach _isn't mine.

* * *

_And so, for great honor and glory, the young boy set upon the journey towards self-discovery, in order to realize his true potential and perhaps one day change the world. He had disciplined himself as his master had told him and he was now sufficiently ready to conquer any obstacle laid before him. He roamed dirt paths for many days and many nights, until he came across his first challenge: an enormous bear had blocked the young boy's path. When he had tried to go around it, the bear swung its mighty and sharp claws toward him. Boy, said the bear, if you should wish to continue on this path, you must answer my riddle correctly and you must think long and hard of its answer, for I am giving you but one chance to answer. Tell me, what_—

With a disconsolate sigh, Momo Hinamori gently closed the book she had been disinterestedly reading moments before and tossed the book onto the end of her bed. It wasn't as if the story itself was awful— she, in fact, enjoyed reading about the nameless boy and his adventures to find himself many times, but today, she had decided she had picked it up one _too_ many times. It had been the third book in a span of a half-hour that she had tried to preoccupy herself with, but none of them had sated her current desire to do _something._

She peeked outside. While the snow was not falling as heavily as before, it was still far too snowy to do anything in Junrinan. Living in the mountains had as many good points to it as it did drawbacks, and the ridiculous amount of snowfall the place received was not something she would categorize as the former. Even in the summer months, there was always a little bit of snow still lingering on the thatched roofs from the previous winter's onslaught and some of the nearby water sources would still be frozen over, well into July or August. Of course, it was nearing December now, which meant the snow was just going to increase. Momo was not looking forward to that in the slightest.

Quietly, she slipped out of her room, sliding the door shut and listened for any life in the house. Judging from the humming coming from the kitchen, Granny was awake from her afternoon nap, most likely working on tonight's dinner. Momo took a left and entered the kitchen to help Granny with the food.

"Have a nice nap, Granny?" asked Momo with a warm smile.

"Why yes, I did," was her grandmother's content answer, ruffling the young girl's hair with a wrinkled, veined hand. "Such a sweet girl you are, Momo-chan. Could you please get me some potatoes from the bin?" With a nod, Momo turned around to the large, woven bin and lifted its lid. There wasn't much inside: the only contents of the bin included a small sack of what she presumed to be rice, a bag with four or five potatoes, all growing sprouts, much to her chagrin, and two onions whose skins were crinkled and drying.

"We're running pretty low on food, Granny." Granny hobbled over and peered inside, drooping eyes examining the bin intently.

"Oh dear. It seems that we are."

"It's okay, Granny. I'm not all that hungry today anyway."

"I will hear no such thing from your mouth, young lady," was Granny's stern reply, frowning and placing a prodding finger on Momo's chest. "No one goes hungry in this household, regardless of how much food there is currently available. Nevertheless, we need to restock soon, but I'm not entirely sure if the weather will permit it." Granny stole a look outside.

"If you want," said Momo, closing the lid to the bin, "I can go get some food for us from Hokutan."

"Are you sure, dear? It's about three miles away and in this weather—"

"It's fine, really," Momo interrupted. "It's not the greatest, but the weather outside isn't too bad to go out in. Plus what we have is not going to last us much longer, I need to return the books I had borrowed from the library and I haven't been outside in days, because of the weather."

"You've finished the books already?"

"Yes, Granny."

"Didn't you borrow at least five of them?"

"Yes, Granny," Momo said with a laugh, "but you know how I go through books. I even read through each one twice." For a brief moment, Granny's face was comically surprised, but it had quickly changed back to a concerned ambivalence.

"Well… I suppose you have a point, my dear," Granny finally said after a long silence, although still sounding a bit hesitant, "but as long as you promise me to be back as soon as you can. Goodness only knows how fickle Mother Nature can be and I'd go with you, but I'm afraid my old bones won't let me travel such a distance, let alone in this weather."

"Don't worry about me," the young girl reassured her grandmother, with a quick, firm hug. "If it gets really bad, I'll just stay in Hokutan for the night." Granny let out a resigned sigh, before nodding her head.

"Just dress as warmly as you can, dear. And do try to return as soon as you can." She planted a kiss on Momo's cheeks; with a laugh, Momo set off to grab her worn boots, scarf and parka. Granny gave her more than plenty of money, telling her to buy herself something when she arrived in Hokutan.

"And for goodness sakes," Granny called outside, as Momo pulled their tiny, well-used sled from under a pile of snow, "be careful."

"You can count on me!" replied the younger girl with a laugh. "See you later, Granny!"

The snow was deeper than Momo had originally anticipated, as she paused to shake off the snow that had clung to the knees of her pants. The rest of Junrinan, a tiny cluster of maybe ten or eleven other houses, were blanketed with a thick layer of white, windows hastily scraped of the snow. In a way, the snow and the encompassing quietness it had brought was comforting and serene—very cold, but nevertheless a tranquil place. She briefly wondered if the people at the base of the mountain range, and perhaps those beyond it, experienced snow. Momo had never been anywhere else in her life; Granny told her once that her parents had lived in a valley by the range but, for whatever reason, had decided to make the trek to Junrinan and leave her in Granny's care. If her parents had suddenly arrived one day to reclaim, Momo wouldn't recognize nor would she go with them, for she was perfectly content under Granny's loving hospitality.

The path to Hokutan, a winding way that had been dug out through the mountains by the people who were originally here, was almost unrecognizable with all the snow. Fortunately enough, Momo had made so many trips back and forth, she was confident she could make her way through asleep and walking backwards. As she stepped on the path, her legs sunk in, the snow now reaching a little past her thighs. With an annoyed sigh, she took larger steps, feeling as ridiculously as she probably looked, tromping through the snow like a bird with long, gangly legs. The sled, of course, rode on top of the snow and Momo wished she had the sense to bring snowshoes with her. But she was already a mile into the path and she didn't feel like turning around to retrieve them.

The bits of sky that weren't obscured by the craggy peaks of the mountains and the dull-colored clouds were turning an orange-blue color and she felt tiny flakes of snowing falling on her face. Was the day already coming to a close? With a deep sigh, Momo trudged through the path and made a resolve to get to Hokutan as quickly as she could; very briefly she remembered the horrific and cautionary tales Granny had told her about people meeting their deaths in the path during winter from freezing to death. She had dressed warmly enough, having on a fluffy parka with a fur collar, thick gloves, a scarf covering her face and bulky boots, but even those did not protect her from the chill she got when she thought of the frozen bodies of people that had almost made it to Hokutan. Granted that it did not happen all too often in a place she was so familiar with, but it was still often enough to get her moving more quickly than she had been seconds before.

A wave of relief washed over her as she saw the boulder, whose tip barely peeked out of the white all around her; the boulder was unusual in the fact that it was mottled with splotches of a deep hue of blue, standing out from the rest of the rest of the bland rock scenery. No one had known why or how this particular boulder came to be, although Momo had guessed that it was the minerals the mountain range had (out of sheer boredom a winter back, she had gone to Hokutan and checked out all the books on geology, even though the subject did not really appeal to her). The boulder also served as a reference point—she was almost to Hokutan and she could feel her fingers and face growing numb from the cold.

A stream of wind whipped her bangs and Momo stopped to readjust the scarf higher on her face. By now, it was mostly dark, but she fortunately could still make out the pass, even in the little light left. It was just a little bit further…

The wind blew shrilly throughout the pass and the sounds it made unsettled her; the weather was becoming wilder by the second, the swirling snow reducing her visibility to almost nothing. A gusty gale came from her right and succeeded in toppling her over into a deep part of the snow. With a groan, she wobbly stood herself back up, shaking her gloves and scarf to get rid of the excess snow. This wasn't good and she needed to get out of there as quickly as possible.

From the distance, she saw pale lights and knew that Hokutan was now in convenient distance. She gripped the sled's reins and pulled as hard as she could, deciding that she would stay over there for the night, get food in the morning, and—

From behind, she heard something crunch in the snow.

Momo immediately became rigid—the crunching was too loud for it to be her and panic surged through her. It was probably nothing more than some snow from above falling, she reasoned with herself. There was absolutely no justifiable reason to panic over a little bit of—

The crunching resounded through the howl of the wind again, definite and menacing. She could feel her stomach drop to her feet and her mouth growing dry. Never had she wanted to get out of a place as quickly as she did now, but her legs felt like lead and they wouldn't move, despite her inner urging.

For a very long while, Momo heard nothing else but the wind's howling.

She took a step forward.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw something dart by and somehow suppressed a scream. The only wildlife that lived in the mountains were rabbits, and whatever she saw was far too large to be one. The panic arose again, far stronger than the first time; she tried to reassure herself that it was probably the cold and wind and snow that were playing tricks on her mind and that whatever she was seeing was completely in her head, but she saw another barely visible streak dart by.

Against her own better judgment, she turned around.

It was too dark to see anything clearly, but the enormous outline of _something_ that stood such a short distance away was absolutely unmistaken. Despite the wind, Momo could hear it half-breathing, half-growling, and it had rooted her into a temporary paralysis; but it remained there, motionless like a statue. She felt herself back up slowly, before unceremoniously stumbling backwards and sinking into the snow. The fear all suddenly became too insurmountable for her to handle; Momo let out a shriek of terror, rising to her feet and trying to run through the snow as quickly as she could. The snow bogged her down, but she did not relent nor look back to see if she was being followed. She felt her legs ache and her heart hammering in her chest; the sled was tossed every which way as she bolted through the quiet of the night.

After what seemed like an eternity of running, her legs could not take any more of it and promptly gave in. She collapsed into the snow, which was much thinner than what was in the path. The sheer cold of the snow felt wonderful against her burning cheeks as she struggled to catch the breath she had lost.

Finally, she forced herself to get up, feeling wobbly and terribly sick. She was now in Hokutan, and she hadn't been more relieved to ever see the circle of homes and tiny stores than she was now. Very slowly, she made her way to the enormous bell that stood on the outskirts of Hokutan. Junrinan had a bell as well, although it was more weathered than this one; it was customary for people of visiting villages to ring the bell to signify the village of their presence, so they could be received with hospitality. As she grasped the cord and began to ring it, Momo was grateful toward the soul that had started this tradition. She didn't have long to wait; the home nearest to her right had opened up, and two figures slipped outside.

"Well, you certainly are out late, miss!" said a kindly, male voice, extending his hand to Momo. "Do come in, my wife and I just finished dinner! You can introduce yourself then." With a quick nod, she obliged, leaving her sled on the side of their quaint little home. The heat of the house immediately warmed her chilled bones, feeling infinitely better as she slipped off her boots and her parka. The couple, a man with graying temples and drooping grey eyes and a woman with prominent wrinkles by her eyes and streaks of gray in her light blond hair, motioned Momo to sit down at their tiny table and handed her a bowl filled with dark soup filled with an assortment of vegetables. She ate as slowly as she could, so she wouldn't appear to lack manners, but the savory dish made this difficult to do.

"Nasty weather out there, eh, miss? It was just today my wife was complaining about the cold making her body hurt."

"I did not say that, Abumi," the wife teasingly retorted, giving her husband a light shove. "I just said that it was so bitterly cold outside. Anyway, my name is Hanako Uzuro and my husband, Abumi. Please, do tell us about yourself."

"My name is Momo Hinamori. I'm just from Junrinan, picking up food for my grandmother and I." With a gentle laugh, she added, after she spooned the last bit of soup into her mouth, "I'm no stranger to Hokutan."

"What an adorable name that is," said Hanako with a sweet smile. "And how nice of you to go in your grandmother's place. You must be a very kind-hearted young girl."

"Thank you very much, Uzuro-san."

"Not at all. And so polite too! You are more than welcome to stay the night here, Hinamori-san," Hanako answered. "After you've finished eating, we can show where the bath is at and a room for you to stay in."

"Oh, I don't need to bathe tonight, I did so today. If it isn't too rude of me to ask, could you please show me to my room now?"

"Certainly," Abumi said, raising himself from his seat. She followed him into a darkened hallway and they stopped at the first door to her right. Dipping into a deep bow, Momo thanked the couple for their kind hospitality and went to retire for the night.

Though she felt quite sated, Momo felt utterly exhausted and the mysterious silhouette of whatever she had seen was an uncomfortable presence in her head. As she shifted on the lumpy bed, Momo tried hard to not let the creature into the forefront of her mind, though it still bothered her immensely. Just _what_ had she seen, an illusion or something real?

Quickly, she forced the thoughts out of her head. It was simply in her head, nothing more than that. Whatever she had seen, she would never see again. She thought this to herself over and over again, until finally she drifted into a dreamless sleep.

End of Chapter 1

* * *

It certainly has been a while, hasn't it?

Used to go under the penname Goddess of Crimson Sand—anyone remember me? Hahaha. I've finally decided that no matter how much Kubo mindscrews his readers, I'll always love _Bleach_, so I've come crawling back, for who knows how long this time.

Anyway, first story about these two in like, two years! Sorry it's kinda weird BUT I PROMISE IT GETS BETTER, I SWEAR. Unlike the rest of my multichaptered fics, I've decided to implement a new writing method, by planning a rough outline for the story; so yes, this story already has an ending. _And it'll actually be finished_. When that'll be, though, I haven't the slightest idea, but hopefully this seems promising enough to you all. And even if it doesn't, I'll just continue to write it, because I do like the idea I have going on for it a lot.

Anyway, reviews are nice but not necessary, constructive criticism is greatly cherished and encouraged, and I think it's a bit too early in the game to flame this, but if you feel that you must, hey, I ain't stopping you.


End file.
